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Custom Map Reviews |
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USP-03, "Cellars of E'Nara" by Lightning Hunter,Naveed and HellscragStoryThis level, originally designed by Naveed, has undergone a major expansion/revision by Lightning Hunter coupled with an exiting cave area by Hellscrag. As usual, the mission is to progress from point A to B in one piece and progress to the next level, but what a time you’ll have doing it here. You start at the cellar entry, looks like old times…hey; those large casks finally have corrected collision…good! Hmm..a new area leading to storage caves..oh-oh, barred off…back to familiar territory. Progressing a short distance, one breaks up a Krall gambling ring and learns that they’ve simply had it with those oppressive Skaarj. Eeeww..they've even knifed that guy on the bed…better get moving fast! Wait, can’t get any further…everything is locked. Time to go back and check out that barricaded passage. It’s there that the fun really starts. You proceed down to an area of creepy cellar corridors, and even creepier foggy cave labyrinth, fight myriad flies and a boss, return to the cellars, fight another boss and finally make it to that next level.
Creatures and ItemsWeapons aquired: Automag, Stinger, ASMD. ArchitectureConstruction is basic but adequate for the setting. Cubes, arches and basic shapes predominate in addition to decorative prefabs. Masonry and wood beaming present a common theme for many of the cellar areas. There is nothing groundbreaking here, nor anything terribly substandard. The only sore spot for our eyes was the tendency to simply cookie-cut out arch shapes in walls without somewhat more trim or standard arch textures. The cave areas are basic, though soundly made.
TexturingAs might be expected for the setting, the authors have drawn primarily from the NaliCast, SkyCity, Mine, GenEarth and GenIn sets. Textures are well applied and few if any errors are obvious. One is noticeable in the corridor just prior to the first foggy cave with the Krall ambush. If you look up, one of the fallen ceiling tiles has left a cavity, which is clearly mis-textured. Not much else to say in this area. Generally well done. LightingThe technique of zone lighting in conjunction with separate light actors is used extensively in this level, which is heavily zoned. The effect is generally good. However one large room filed with casks accessed just after the first boss fight appears unnaturally bright given the visible light sources. Overall, lighting is neither exceptional nor disappointing for the level.
SoundThe best use of sound so far in this pack. Newmca7 fits the setting well, but this doesn’t even scratch the surface. Lightning Hunter combines the elements of music, ambient sounds and total silence in varying combinations to create an atmosphere that will have your heart racing at times. The only flaw in this category are some torches with barely audible ambient sound actors in addition to some which have no sound actors at all associated with them. Technical ExecutionAh, the area where this level truly shines! A plethora of integrated triggers, dispatchers and special events make this level something special. Their interaction generates earthquakes, exploding walls, movers in the form of beams and rock slides, collapses, creature appearances and more. Lightning Hunter has done an incredible job of crafting and environment, which is truly alive via scripting. It’s a slight exaggeration, but almost anything you do in some parts of the level causes something else to happen. This combined with the old standby spawn points, alarm points, pathnodes etc. makes for a high grade in this area. GameplayMany and combined elements make the map quite fun in this regard. There’s straight up simple combat, exploration, an involving storyline of the Krall rebellion, two boss encounters, areas that simply send chills down your spine and extensive use of well staged scripting. Overall EffectThe player should derive a strong sense of accomplishment after making it through this map. Lots to see and do, and simply fun to play. Not overly impressive visually in areas, yet none the less an excellent total experience.
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